Tell CNN to get the facts right on Pelosi trip
For much of the past week, CNN and its White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux have offered a steady stream of inaccurate and incomplete coverage of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) trip to the Middle East and her April 3 meeting with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.
Please join Media Matters for America in demanding that CNN and Malveaux stop misinforming viewers about Pelosi's trip and present all the facts. CNN's contact information can be found in our "Take Action!" sidebar on the right.
Since April 2, Malveaux has wrongly and repeatedly claimed that Pelosi had no "standing" and was not acting in an "official capacity," has attacked the trip as "political theater" and a "political stunt," and has parroted the Bush administration's attacks on Pelosi for going to Syria while ignoring the fact that a Republican-led delegation met with Assad on April 1. Most recently, Malveaux asked whether Pelosi's trip was a "big wet kiss to President Al-Assad."
Other CNN personalities have joined in as well. Lou Dobbs devoted an entire segment to "Pelosi's bad trip," while the April 3 edition of Anderson Cooper 360 featured a segment on Pelosi's trip titled "Talking to Terrorists."
After several days of inaccurate, one-sided coverage, it's time to tell CNN enough is enough. It's time to take action.
Use the contact information in our "Take Action!" sidebar to contact CNN, Malveaux, and Dobbs -- and be sure to tell your friends.
CNN is a Time Warner company, I believe. They are also supposed to be in the news business as opposed to the Propaganda Business. It might be useful to let Time Warner know that if their "reporters" can't get the bias out you can take your money out of Time-Warner Cable, HBO and other cable options they own; or even go seleep with the Murdoch enemy and his roof saucers.
Money matters.
My disappointment with CNN cannot be understated. They have capitulated to the Republican conservatives and their puppets in the media industry. I no longer can watch the deterioration of the truth. There is no longer honor in the Dobbs segments, or Grace, or that Rush wannabe whose name I cannot utter. Good luck, but without my support.
CNN is disappointing many of their Listeners as of Late !! What happened to the Truth ?? You had better go looking for it are you will lose many of your listeners !!! I'm just about FED UP with CNN and you may have already lost me as a listener !!
Pandering to the right is the new national sport for cable news. They understand how popular they become when they preach to the choir.
But I wanna stop you right there. This country is not to the far right as Karl Rove and the media has portrayed it to be. That maybe the real genius of Rove, in that he convinced all of us that a majority of this country has the same philosophy as a small minority politically, culturally, etc.
If anyhting, CNN doesn't follow a left or right agenda...it follows a corperate agenda.
Lemme pose this to my fellow posters...Do you think that CNN would have more to gain in seeing this war end and relations between the Middle East and West improve....or would it suit their agenda better to see the war continue and relations worsen between our cultures so as to have some drama to sell more ad time?
As they say in the old never-before-seen Three Stooges short "You Nahtzy Spy"- War is more profitable.
Go to their website and give them a professional blast. I just did. One voice heard indicates more would speak given the chance. Someone said its about 100 to 1 ratio of unheard to heard.
It appears to me that the action alert payed off in the case of Suzanne Malveaux, at least. I was watching her this afternoon talking with Donna Brazile and her Republican counterpart, and when the Republican guy ended his tirade against Speaker Pelosi's visit with Al Asaad, Suzanne to say, and I paraphrase, that isn't it unfair to complain and condemn Speaker Pelosi for meeting with Al Asaad when two Republican congressmen met with him this week as well, and not a word of complain was uttered by the White House or anyone on the Republican Side. And didn't Speaker Pelosi have the right, as representative of the people, to hold these kinds of discussions especially since she was essentially saying the same things the president would be saying to him? I would say that Media Matters readers did a mitzvah this time.
Far be it from me to point, sitting north of the 49th, that my time at Northwestern studying United States Consitutional History and Government seems to have been wasted. Obviously CNN does not comprehend the system of checks and balances that the framers of the Constitution put into place or did I completely miss the intent.
cnn, get your facts right and THEN speak
You are underestimating the power of the People to distinguish between disinforming journalism/news and accurate, agenda-free reporting.
If you continue to choose complicity with corporate-driven, propagandistic broadcast news, you will be the latest in the long list of disreputable news services.
Most importantly, your responsibility to the Public must be respected, in the form of integritous journalism. Less than that and you are guilty of the dismantling of this democracy, what there is left of it.
I am sorely disappointed in CNN. The lean to the far right became noticable some time ago. It is difficult to know where to turn. I DO watch Olbermann on MSNBC. Otherwise, it's the radio (NPR) and the Internet for me.
What of the Gingrich trip to China when he was speaker of the house?
In which instance he spoke contrary to the Administration's stated foreign policy and was admonished by both the White House and the Chinese gov't., yet the right hailed his actions as heroic.
At that time Gingrich unilaterally threatened China with direct military action were they to make a move on Taiwan.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/04/05/gingrich_china/index.html
CNN get your darn facts straight on Madam Speaker's trip.!!
Brenda David
Get that woman Malveaux off your premises or start covering this and other topics fairly.
Pelosi's visit to Syria shows that there are grownups in our government who can talk to those with whom we disagree, not just spoiled frat brat, schoolyard bullies who stomp their feet and abuse anyone they're stronger than.
Ms Pelosi proves we have some adults in our government, even if she doesn't have the guts to do the right thing and call for immediate impeachment for war crimes. This does run contrary to the opinion of us by the rest of the world due to the chimp in chief's idiocy and evil over the past 6 years.
It's time for responsible journalism. Take the time to get the facts right and then report the facts without editorializing. Your comment about Pelos's "big wet kiss" is clearly an example of classless ignorance. We deserve better than this...your sponsors deserve better than this.
Why are you becoming like FOX news? Nancy Pelosi is doing our nation a great favor by visiting Syria and other Middle East countries! The chicken hawsk inpower act like two year old toddlers!
Tell America the truth! You ARE supposedly a news outlet, not a mouthpeice for the Bushies! I will not continue as a viewer is you continue on as a propaganda outlet. Lou Dobbs, I am so ashamed of you most!
I was very dissapointed in Suzanne. I have watched her for years on the local DC station and to know how disingenuous and inaccurate her reporting has been I was very dishearted. She has become a republic reporting drone! She has given up authentic journalism and for what? Oh yeh I did say republic!!!
I am outraged at the huge turn to the right that CNN has taken, specifically the reporting this week of Suzanne Malveaux. She is very biased and seems to be pushing the Bush agenda. I noticed this on Monday and it has continued through the week. Her biased reporting on Speaker Pelosi, her rude and unprofessional interview with the US ambass. from Syrian, etc. Please look at her interview with the Syrian ambass., she asks him a question and won't let him answer her questions. Don't you think that the viewers would like to hear what the Syrian ambass. had to say, I know that I did. I have decided to wait until Wolf Blitzer returns to see if fairness returns to CNN. In the mean time what do you subjest that I do? Should I switch my viewing to C-Span or MSNBC? Please let me know.
Your unhappy viewer,
James N.
I'm SO, SO glad you mentioned her scathing interview with a diplomat from another country. More proof of how Bush has demolished the decency of those who still back him, that they're as deteriorated and demonizing as Bush himself. Words such as dignity, honesty, goodness are beneath them and the venom they spew on the airwaves does them, their sponsors, their stations no good. Thank God for that. And thank God "you can't fool all the people all the time!" Americans are beginning to wake up to what's really going on.
Thank you for your post,
Bobbiel
Unless the press is independent of politicians we are lost as a country. The way things have been going for the last six years I believe we are lost.
You know, I have to agree with you on this.
Aside from how venomis are news/culture has become, we can't do the stuff we used to do in the past as effectively today.
We lost New Orleans.
We can't get everyone onboard with a sensible enviromental plan.
We can't protect the middle class anymore, let alone the least fortunate.
We can't educate are kids nor keep them healthy.
We can't keep guns and violence of the streets (I live in Philly, we're now number 1 in murder).
And don't get me started on the War On Terror, or stuggle against global whatever they are calling it now.
Its a sad thing to say, but I think our Empire is in its last throes. China and Europe are next to take over. We had a good run, but we couldn't keep up.
I am so sick and tired of supposedly "balanced" news organizations continually making far right statements that have nothing to do with fact and everything to do with opinion. Your bias is so obvious it sickens me. Do your journalistic job for once and include in your story how many REPUBLICANS were also on that trip, let alone admit that Nancy is 3rd in line should anything happen to the two illegally elected subhumans currently in power.
The business of the current administration is war for immense profit at taxpayers' expense and the destruction of the middle class. Anyone with one shred of critical thinking skills in their brain can see that. Why can't you actually do some HONEST journalism for once instead of spouting half truths and lies about something on which you possess little to no knowledge - other than the pap you are paid to "parrot."
If you want to observe REAL journalism, check out BBC or PBS...
Get it right for a change. STOP SPOUTING LIES AND PASSING OFF HALF TRUTHS as "News." It's anything but. In reality, it's "noise." And it certainly is about as far removed from fact as so-called "news" could be...it's propaganda...
AMERICA IS SICK OF THE LIES IT HEARS EVERY DAY FROM THE WHITE HOUSE AND FROM S-CALLED NETWORK "NEWS."
START TELLING THE TRUTH!
Howland Bickerstaff
Windham, Maine
Since CNN is the unofficial mouthpiece for the the socialists, it seem funny that they would be criticized by the left. You really do 'eat your own' don't you?
A Socialist corporation? That's one of the most profound oxymorons I've heard in quite some time. Well, from the mouth of a moron who could say such a thing when the facts just slammed him in the face, what more can I say? You're waisting your time here.
Have some more Kool-Aid.
When did Time Warner become a liberal organisation? They are direct competitors with Faux and that is why they have the star-making machine behind the creepy hate-monger Glenn Beck.
Thanks for the advice, Jamison.
I sent my email to them last night when I first saw the screenshot on www.CrooksandLiars.com
I hope it has an impact.
I just started reading an excellent book entitled "No Questions Asked" by Lisa Finnegan which critiques the media since 9/11. Interestingly enough, in the opening chapters she quotes prominent figures in the media who have asserted their irresponsible and lazy coverage in the days after 9/11 and through the course of the Iraq war. It seems to me the corporate media is really jonesing for a confrontation of some sort. And if one with Iran can't get ginned up, they'll settle for ginning one up between Republicans and Democrats.
Also Glenn Greenwald has an excellent post up at Salon where he discusses Speaker Newt Gingrich's trip to China in the 90s. You would think the corporate media with all of their $$$ and influence could do a simple Lexus-Nexus search and point out the glaring hypocrisy of their Pelosi spanking in light of Newt's past "political theatre". But no, a blogger has to point it out. It's unbelievable.
Please get your facts straight about speaker Pelosi's trip to Syria before making statements. You are misinforming the public and doing a grave injustice to our country.
If the American public voted in the NEW CONGRESS and the NEW SENATE and the President's own bi-partisan committee on Iraq stated uncategorically that America should be talking to neighboring nations to Iraq like Syria and Iran then wouldn't it seem that Speaker Pelosi is ACTUALLY the one true American representative who SHOULD talk to Syria rather than the lying corrupt adminsitration that has made America the laughing stock of the world while causing more deaths to Americans by his dismal and failed Iraq policy than the 9/11 attack?
Of the 27 names on CNN's list of anchors and reporters, Suzanne Malveaux isn't among them (alphabetically) . What's with that? Is she the, (not so hidden) "Bush's bitch"?
I've watched her enough to immediately switch off her distortions and lies! Avoir, Suzanne Mal-de-mer-aux a la Coultergeist!
Bobbiel
What the Shrub Administration does not realize is it is easy to talk to your friends but it does nothing to change the fact you get more talking and dealing with your enemies. It would not suprise me if this administration was paying Malveaux to spout their retoric on CNN, it would not be the first time. I am glad we won the elections in November to where there are some checks and balances back in the government.
People watch CNN? Why on earth?
AT LEAST "SOMEONE" IS TALKING TO THE PLAYERS IN THE REGION..YOU WON'T SEE BUSH THERE BECAUSE HE CAN'T COMPLETE A FULL SENTENCE WITHOUT A TELE-PROMPTER...THE ONLY OTHER REPUBLICANS WHO SHOULD BE GOING CAN'T LEAVE THE COUNTRY BECAUSE THEY'RE UNDER INDICTMENT...JUST SHUT UP AND TRY TO REPORT THE TRUTH AND STOP TRYING TO COMPETE WITH FOX NOISE...REGARDS, FRED SMITH SR., WILMINGTON, DE
I sent them a letter earlier today and YESTERDAY AND in fact ALL WEEK. Suzanne's obvious rightwing whackjob attack on Pelosi is mingboggling in it's Fox Noise methods.
Ialso wrote Lou as I have been a fan for quite some time but lately he has taken to using the same old tired rightwing tactics. He no longger attacks corporations for outsourcing, and spends more time repeating the same old news that has been told all day long. He used to champion the middle class and now he is just parroting rightwing whackjob talking points more and more often.
BUT what IS important is that Nancy herself comes out swinging. IF she plays this idiotic high road crud, she will be savaged just like John Kerry was when the Swift Boat Liars For Bush came out, he ignored them until it was too late.
Nancy needs to take ON the news outlets like CNN and go head to head with them. Do what was done to Chris Wallace when Clinton nailed him to the floor.
Nancy needs to do the same or she risks being marginalized.
I have now started switching to other outlets, although there ain't much out there that figures if Fox Noise has high ratings, then it's worth selling journalistic integrity down the river for those ratings.
Such a shame too, we once had real newsmen and women, now we just have ratings whores.
I am a proud American and am raising my children to love and respect this, their country. It hurts deeply when those bodies and institutions that have been throughout America's history instrumental in promoting truth and oversight of our government's activities so that we citizens may remain informed, engage willfully in deceit. How else to explain the simple fact that CNN and others with resources and access to real knowledge beyond most citizens means get it so wrong? How does CNN and other reporting bodies completely disregard the very actions of Republican congressional delegations visiting Syria prior to the Speaker's visit and then deliberately lie and mislead? To what end is this omission intended? What audience does CNN and others target? Those incapable of seeking other media sources and therefore victims to lack of technological grasps, resulting in vulnerability to those unscrupulous wretches? What are you CNN? What is your agenda? Who or what do you serve and how do you benefit? Do you, CNN, see yourself in the same tradition as others that have made this country a great nation worthy at one time of the jealousies of other nations? What does 'America' mean to you? CNN, you make this honest and patriotic American and his family cry. You make us sad. But your lies and deceit will not prevail.
Get your facts right. Soldiers are dying every day year in and year out.
Your sloppy news is a part of the death and dying.
I don't know who signs your paycheck, but is it worth not getting the facts right? Is it worth not being a solid news organization? Is it worth all of your half truth? Your news is a disgrace.
How fortunate we are, finally, to have rid ourselves of the Republican Junta that ruled Congress up until this November past.
Finally, we have at the helm of the Senate a Speaker of The House, just as she said at her 'inaugural', is a speaker for all the people of the United States. The people, by electing a Democratic plurality were sending a very clear message to the President, his Cabinet, and the misguided Republicans, that we the people were no longer going to allow unbridled power in the hands of a few usurp the Constitution. Madison, one of our esteemed founding fathers would literally be rolling over in his grave if he were privy to seeing how relentlessly this President has single handedly usurped power and blurred the lines amongst the three branches of government. Nancy Pelosi is undertaking a mission that ought to have been initiated some time ago. She is legally, morally, as well as ethically making the first intelligent foray into the establishment of a dialogue with countries in the Middle East that we must reconcile our differences with through peaceful means or perish.
CNN generally, as well as the likes of Dobbs, Malveaux, and Cooper are behaving merely as anencephalic pawns for the administration. It is precisly by virtue of their level of cognitive functioning coupled with their total lack of intellectual insight into a process direly in need of changing that the situation in Iraq has gone from bad to worse. They are, if anything at all, the poorest representatives of what, at one time, was a proud and erudite American Free Press operating under the first amendment to the Constitution.
I believe it ought to be mandated that all thinking people in the US who love their country ought to read Chalmer Johnson's new book "Nemesis" in order for them to gain a full and true understanding of just what's at stake for all of if we allow the current political trend to continue as Mr. Bush would choose to have it.
Kudos to Mrs. Pelosi and would that their were more like her.
cnn does not make it so easy to comment...i'm not so sure they really give a damn and i put them one step above fox news. Anyway Pelosi certainly has every right to try to negotiate when you have a presidency that is as negligent and corrupt as this one
CNN is a Shruburb.
If you are going to tell a news story then tell it right. I am sick and tired of the bashing of Democrat just because they are doing their job. It is time for some scruples, which means," ethical consideration". The story you are missing is regarding the Bush adminstration and their willingness to commit murder of our troops and Iraqi's over an oil deal.
GET IT RIGHT!!
The Republicans won't admit , and the Media, especially CNN, MSNBC and CNBC, that Nancy Pelosi is the SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE!! She is a woman of intelligence and honesty. She is a woman of strength and compassion and integrity. She is a woman who is in Syria and that area, working for the good of the PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, as well as the people of those countries. She is not flexing muscles and making demands and threatening anyone, as our so-called Secretary of State does. She is not over there as a political ploy, such as our Sec. of State flies around the world making headlines. She is there as the voice of the American people. For CNN or any other media voice to imply that she has no "standing" is wrong. She has the "standing" to speak for 250 million of us, even the fools that continue to spout the 'bush policies' and try to make him such a hero. CNN, let's start telling the TRUTH instead of lies and insults. Nancy Pelosi is OUR choice to speak for us; "OUR" being the people of the United States.
CNN: 1980 called and it wants it's journalistic integrity back.
Thanks for everyone who took action on these misleading attacks. We need to hold these "news" organizations accountable.
I have heard Miss Malveaux make these comments..and perhaps Lou Dobbs too. I was rather surprised at Miss Malveaux's comments...and have just stopped listening to any of the news on the show she's covering for Wolf Blitzer. My thoughts on Nancy Pelosi going to Syria...it's about time that some one talked to some of these countries instead of just sitting in the White House saying I refuse to talk to Bad Guys!
i am highly dissapointed in cnn s stance on pelosis trip.i'm sure you people at cnn are aware of your extreme increase in ratings within the last year. in case the reason has slipped your mind, let me enlighten you. about a year ago you and msnbc began to show some backbone in honest reporting even when it was not in the best interest of the bush administration. we viewed this as improvement on your part, and wanted more of it. your ratings increased, and lou dobbs skyrocketed.this is completely out of charecter for lou dobbs.malveaux is rather new and says what she is told to say, lou knows as well as we that she had every right to be there trying to head off another war by this warmongering president, and his cohorts. might i remind you SHE IS #3 on the totem pole, and i believe she was doing what lee hamilton and james baker suggested, "open dialog", and since george is to high and mighty to lower himself to negotiations, her actions are proper.others have made this same trip without all this static, and i suggest cnn get their priorities in order. not for one second do i believe lou dobbs said that on his own
CNN never ceases to disappoint! Your snarky reporting and underhanded way of dealing with the news is surpassed only by FOX NEWS. As far as Suzanne Malveaux is concerned, her reporting is nothing more than hype and is not to be taken seriously...... much like that of Wolfie. The only thing I EVER watch on CNN is Lou Dobbs. The rest of that network is just reading stuff handed to them without putting any research into the truth of what they are saying.
Don't look now but, Lou Dobbs sported an all anti-Pelosi panel on the Saturday show. Dobbs wasn't present, it was his female guest-host, but the show's new agenda is clearly swinging to the right in response to Fox News ratings leads. Earlier today I watched Meet the Press, Sponsored by Boeing and GE, the people that bring you nuclear weapons and delivery systems. That wouldn't be a conflict of interest, now would it?
Since April 2 Malveaux has wrongly and repeatedly claimed that Pelosi had "no standing" and was not acting in an official capacityand has attacked the trip as "political theater" and "political stunt" and "a big wet kiss to President Al-Assad." I will not continue watching/listening to CNN if the news continues to simply parrot the White House. CNN, Mr. Malveaux and Mr. Dobbs I need good clear and truthful reporting. Do not mix your opinions with the news--keep them separate, please. CNN has been my favorite over the years, but recently I am questioning the slant of reporting. Give us fair and balanced reporting, please.
I just happend to turn on my television to CNN at the exact moment Malvaux went off on the Syrian Ambassador about Speaker Pelosi. I was mortified and shocked by all the absurd right-wing crap spewing out of her mouth. She was hysterically hitting the Ambassador over the head with LIES that she got right off the Whithouse talking points memo. Unbelievable.
I've had it with this corporate media. I have never watched Fox and now I find myself avoiding CNN as well. They started their propaganda campaign in full swing when they hired Glen Beck [television's equivalent of Rush Limbaugh] and gave him three hours a night.
CNN was asked to report all of the altered medical and legal records in the tampa bay area, but haven't responded yet.
The Wannabees
I have been posting with a furriest tone for the last two year how conservative CNN has become. They have directly challenged Fox news for their conservative viewer market share.
CNN is not the only one after the conservative market share. MSNBC, CSPAN, and ABC report a large portion of their news in a conservative tone. This means framing the news instead of reporting the news. One example of trying to frame an issue is presented in the form of a concern as Suzanne Malveaux ask " Some people look at this as simply political theater, a stunt." I would love to know "who" those people are. I would not have to search very far.
The claim that we live with a left-wng bias news climate is one of the biggest fabricated lies concerning our news organizations. It is so conservative that is not even close as to how the news is slanted.
The only exception is Keith Olbermann, and even he seems to be losing his confrontational edge for the funnies. Olbermann once mesmurized the viewer with his special comments. Now the special comments are few in number, but the comments on who the next American Idol has become high on the shows list of importance.
CNN once held a very quality standard others shows only looked up to. They were the standard setters for quality journalism and news reporting. They have traded all that in for a cheap status of a Wannabee.
Joseph
I have Blitzer on. Its the Sunday show and who is on his panel?
Arlen Specter and Joe Leiberman. A Republican and a republican in a cheap suit.
While I'm not condoning what the white house has done in the last 7 years, the hypocrisy of the members of this site is overwhelming. The fact of the matter is that Pelosi's visit to Syria has been used by the dictator of that country for a rich PR and propaganda haul and CNN and others are correct in pointing this out. The problem is that when CNN and others (like the Washington Post, USAToday which are hardly known as conservative publications) do this, the members of this site start screaming "no fair". Ms. Pelosi has a lot of good ideas; this was not one of them so get over it. In the meantime, if you can't stand a bit of honest critique, don't watch CNN or others and just hang out at the DailyKOS or some other hard left place that wont disappoint your fragile egos.
DLSCHUCK:
So, the GOP congresscritters visiting Syria isn't an issue, but Pelosi's visit is?
ahh yes, i remember now: *It's OK If You're A Republican"
While I'm not condoning what the white house has done in the last 7 years, the hypocrisy of the members of this site is overwhelming. The fact of the matter is that Pelosi's visit to Syria has been used by the dictator of that country for a rich PR and propaganda haul and CNN and others are correct in pointing this out. The problem is that when CNN and others (like the Washington Post, USAToday which are hardly known as conservative publications) do this, the members of this site start screaming "no fair". Ms. Pelosi has a lot of good ideas; this was not one of them so get over it. In the meantime, if you can't stand a bit of honest critique, don't watch CNN or others and just hang out at the DailyKOS or some other hard left place that wont disappoint your fragile egos.
What piffle and inane denigration of the comments here.
The outrage expressed at Pelosi is what has been demonstrated to be hypocritical. As Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com has pointed out, Speaker Newt Gingrich made similar trips to foreign countries during the Clinton administration where he actually contradicted the policies of the United States.
But it isn't even fair to compare the two, because Speaker Pelosi, and the Republicans who also visited Damascus this week, didn't contradict the Bush administration's position on the war on terror. They reinforced it. And Republican Darrell Issa (CA) criticized the administration's rebuke of the delegation.
The last I checked, the United States has not (yet) declared war on Syria. I realize the neocons would rather start one; however, I think it is admirable that a bipartisan group of United States elected representatives spent their vacation working toward restoring peace in the middle east. What were the President and Vice President doing?
For Pelosi to be singled out for this public flogging and crucifixion seems a bit reminiscent on this Easter weekend.
Please do not stoop to Fox devisive tactics! Trips to Syria were BIPARTISAN, & Ms. Pelosi is doing what the voters expect of her: find answers to untangling the mistakes of Mr. Bush.
This one seems to become more and more popular on Digg. Could be a huge victory for MMFA if it gets anough attention.
I advise everyone to take up a (metaphorical) shovel and digg this article...
I sent in a note but, frankly, CNN (Pravda) doesn't give a rats ass what we say.
The Logan Act...
That's the next talking point you'll probably hear from the right. One of my delusional right-wing co-workers came running up to me today asking if I knew about the Logan Act, in a gotcha sort of tone. He claimed it was written in the constitution in 1709. I questioned how that could have happened 66 years before the Declaration of Independence. He replied that maybe it wasn't IN the constitution but that it had been written by the same founders who had written the constitution. (I guess they were still in diapers)
Now, at this point I knew he was talking out his a$$, soI asked him to enlighten me, though he couldn't really explain it but he heard about it on the right-wing talk radio station in our area and it really means trouble for Pelosi.
Now, instead of just swallowing every talking point I hear as demonstrated by my wingnut friend, I actually did a little research on "The Google" which is on one of my "internets". It seems the Logan Act is a never-used 1799 federal law making it illegal for private citizens to negotiate with foreign governments to the detriment of the US.
OK, that seems clear enough, except that Nancy Pelosi is the Speaker of the House of Representatives, leading a bipartisan congressional delegation, NOT a private citizen.
I suspect, though, that the distinction will be lost on him.
Nice...
Some people are using the Logan act on digg. I'll have to tell them all about it :-).
LOL -- good one JIMMIELEE. Your persona is a perfect imitation pf the typical rightwing-nutjob. You've captured the ignorance spot on! Only a wingnut would criticize CNN for being left wing while at the same time laughing about its trashing of a Democratic Representative! I mean what could be a bigger "Duh" than that.
But that is the way they think. Jebus, it's sad and funny all at once, isn't it?
Seriously, though, Jimmielee, if Malvaux did in fact later attack as unfair and hypocritical the excoriating attacks on Pelosi by Republicans who neglect to mention -- or gloss over -- the recent trip by their own to "Talk to a terrorist" then maybe she's not a lost soul, after all. So,fortunately for you and me, CNN may well continue to be the "unofficial mouthpiece for socialists" -- nudge, nudge, wink, wink.your reporting is not factual. you are leading this country down the wrong path just for money.
For what it's worth I put in my response to CNN's Situation Room and it reads as follows:
The recent coverage of Speaker Pelosi's trip was, put bluntly, horribly biased and unprofessional. How dare CNN for broadcasting obviously partisan smears against Pelosi. CNN's mindless parrotting of this rapidly sinking administration's talking points calls into question not only CNN's journalistic integrity, but also its business acumen. CNN will learn, (albeit perhaps too late) that the more that it devolves into a mouthpiece for discredited interests such as the Bush administration and the neoconservative movement, the more irrelevant it becomes in the eyes of the viewers it supposedly serves. This in turn affects ratings, which in turn affect advertising revenue. The only way to turn this around and restore CNN's already questionable reputation is to provide reporting that is even handed and based on facts, not overheated spin and rhetoric contained in any political party's talking points. Get a clue CNN, the November 06 elections have already demonstrated that the American voters are wise to the tricks of this administration and the media that cravenly pander to it. CNN would be wise to realize this before it is left on the wrong side of history along with the criminally willful and incompetent administration currently occupying the White House.
Just one more drop in the bucket for CNN to savor...
WHAT THE HELL IS THIS BACK STROKE CNN IS DOING ?
FOR ALMOST A YEAR, THEY'VE BEEN PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD ON THE NEWS,
NOW THEY'VE GONE BACK TO THE LYING AND SPINNING. THINK MAYBE
SOME BODY CHASTIZED THEM...EH? IT DOESN'T MATTER ANYBODY THAT KNOWS LOU DOBBS KNOWS HE DIDN'T SAY THAT ON HIS OWN
IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE TO ME AS THERE RATINGS ARE CLIMBING
SO RAPIDLY THAT THEY WOULD STOOP TO LEVEL OF FOX NEWS
CNN's comment form is rediculously long. They are perhaps the single stupidist outfit for emailing comments to. Instead of a single name and password those morons make you fill out the exact same ten spaces EVERY time you want to email them.
It's deliberate which tells me a lot about their real motives. "
If you don't hear much bad news from viewers then there is no bad news from viewers therefore we're doing everything just right"
I just hope more and more people continue to write them.
Stop being a puppet of this administration. What prejudicial titles you have given to shows--Pelosi's bad trip....talking to terrorists....Someone has to let the world know that we the people do not support this administration's wreckless decisions. Open your eyes to the courage and good decisions of Nancy Pelosi.